what the hell… [Market Basket, New England]

100% this. MB has always been the cheaper and better option and as the economy continues to collapse, trying to boycott it is going to be more and more difficult… It sucks.

I intend to follow the lead of MB employees on this. My thinking at this time is that I don’t want the employees to lose hours, and pay, if enough customers stop shopping at the stores. If employees ask us to boycott, I will do that.

This is the way I’ve come around to thinking about it, too. I care about the employees and can afford to pay a little more for a while.

Agree on this. I think it was the employees who started the 2014 boycott and customers and then distributors immediately jumped in. The fact that it didn’t happen this time signals either fatigue with the entire situation or inability/unwillingness to put their jobs on the line.

At the time, my wife was commuting to Boston and our drive to Boston Express took us past a Market Basket where the employees were protesting, and it was really something to see the amount of support they were getting every day.

Anyway I’m also on board with following the employees’ lead. We get a lot of our groceries from Hannaford only because they do pickup and are closer, but there’s a lot we can only get from MB (bitter melon! culantro! maitake mushrooms! 10 year Cabot! ah shit, I think I’m out of that, in fact) and their doughnuts are weirdly good, especially now that all of the chains’ are … not. And even though I like the convenience of self-checkout as much as anyone else, I appreciate the fact that our local MBs seem to employ more people as a result of not having it. Hannaford definitely dropped a bunch of folks when they expanded that.

an interesting (perhaps encouraging?) development.

market basket interim ceo

I had seen that the CFO (42 year MB employee) was appointed interim CEO. Didn’t realize he was “with” Artie T. in 2014.

But quite frankly, I wouldn’t trust anything coming out of the board’s mouths.

I’m concerned that the choice of CFO for interim CEO, good guy though he may be, has been done merely as a bridge to extract the maximum profit from MB and its real estate for those who forced Artie T’s ouster. The CFO will understand the finances so they need him. For now.

Yeah, that’s exactly my fear. Use him to wring every last dollar out for the greedy sisters, and then sell it off to a massive international conglomerate.

I’m in the Burlington MB right now after dropping Spring Onion off at his music class. I never come here on a Wednesday evening, but it’s a ghost town in here. I feel like I’ve just crossed the picket line and it’s a not a nice feeling.

I heard the end of a radio news mention of the MB situation a few days ago. Some sort of shopper poll reported that a majority of MB customers would participate in a boycott.

Lots of Artie T’s supporters suggest he open a rival chain. He might not be contractually able to, or may not want to start over in his 70’s. Perhaps there could be 1) a membership plan, like Costco or Restaurant Depot, but limited to the typical MB product inventory. Or 2) some “ghost” warehouses supplying a home- delivery-only business. When Roche Brothers was still in Burlington, they had their own employees doing the in-store shopping, and refrigerated vans driven by employees to deliver orders.
Same item prices as instore, almost all instore items available, and a delivery charge. No option for tipping but no driver ever refused a cash tip, IME.

Maybe Artie T could arrange a delivery service as a new MB service, and be in charge of it.

I’m not surprised. Lifelong MB shoppers are loyal to their very core.

FB has several MB customer groups. I joined one, “The Market Basket Way”. It’s very pro Artie T. There’s a tee shirt with his photo on the front. The back says “mourn for your dollar”.

IIRC, this is the first time I have received a MB email other than the weekly flyer, which I signed up for. Clearly this is a new ad feature, which is of no use to me. I chuckled at the title being “Class is in Session”, when the wicked sisters are devoid of their brother’s first-class empathy and integrity. I hope they are soon schooled!

Same for me! I looked at it when I came in to my inbox and tossed it to the trash. Just send me the flyer. I don’t need anything else.

September 29 - With the idea of getting some MB-labeled pantry items in case they are discontinued by the new regime, I went to the Oakdale Mall Tewksbury, store this afternoon around 2:30. It was well-stocked, with lots of shoppers. I saw no sign of employee unhappiness…sorry to say! I very much want Artie T’s leadership restored. I won’t shop there again if the sisters remain in control.

and the drama continues:

There are four MBs within a 5-mile radius of my home. It’s been my most often shopped supermarkets for decades but I never knew it was the subject of a rock music song:

I’m in Burlington MB while Spring Onion is at music class. They have a good playlist going…Pet Shop Boys “ West End Girls” one of my faves playing now. Am I the only one in the joint who wants to climb up on an endcap and start dancing?

There are actually quite a few playlists on Spotify related to Market Basket’s soundtrack. I also heard MB Anthem (the Market Basket Song) by Stop Calling Me Frank on WERS the other day which completely cracked me up. Check it out!